How Should Control Loop Performance Issues Be Prioritized?
There are many paths to Heaven or so the saying goes. With a growing array of automation technologies, such a philosophical expression can be applied to process control and plant-wide
How Do I Calculate Gain? What Is the Difference Between Process Gain and Controller Gain?
Among practitioners who tune PID control loops manually most note their focus on calculating the Gain. Process Gain is a model parameter whereas Controller Gain is a tuning parameter. The
What Are the Pros and Cons of the Step Test?
Face it, more often than not tuning a PID controller is usually easier when software is applied. While not all products are created equal, the modeling capabilities within most commercial
How Do I Tune a Level Controller?
Level controllers present challenges that are different from others. Although their presence is significant they lag behind Flow controllers in their overall share of the typical production facility's process control
Why is Zeigler-Nichols the Wrong Choice for Your PID Controllers?
In 1909 Henry Ford famously offered customers any color of his Model T automobile as long as their choice was black. Ford's "one size fits all" philosophy worked remarkably well
Why Are Control Loops Operated in Manual Mode?
Why do manufacturers automate production? Why do they spend millions each year on new equipment and software? Those questions are pretty straight forward, and the answers seem obvious. Clearly automation
What is Output Distribution? How Is It Helpful?
Most of us know what it means to give 110%. Whether by a coach urging players to finish strong or a supervisor encouraging staff to hit a project deadline, many
What Tools Are Available for Optimizing the CS 3000 and Centum VP DCS?
What have you done for me lately? That question directly influences the behavior of most everyone within a production facility. Face it, we operate in a meritocracy that has little
Do CLPM Solutions Adapt to Changing Performance Expectations?
What have you done for me lately? That question directly influences the behavior of most everyone within a production facility. Face it, we operate in a meritocracy that has little
Does Tuning a PID Controller Require a Bump Test?
It's generally accepted that tuning a PID controller requires some form of testing. Whether a step, bump, doublet, or pseudo random binary sequence, the test forces a change to the